“When you’re happy you enjoy the music. When you’re sad, you understand the lyrics.”

-Frank Ocean, American songwriter and rapper

If you were asked to name your favorite songwriters, who would make your list?

Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songwriters include:

• Taylor Swift, the youngest artist on Rolling Stone’s list
• Eminem, contemporary pop artist with head-spinning wordplay
• Sam Cook, one of the first African-American civil rights songwriters
• Loretta Lynn, Nashville’s feminist revolutionary
• Bert Berns, who wrote hits like Twist & Shout, and Piece of My Heart
• Willie Nelson, whose hits include country, reggae, and standards with strings
• John Lennon / Paul McCartney, powerhouse duo of The Beatles
• Paul Simon, who wrote The Sounds of Silence, and Bridge Over Troubled Water
• Chuck Berry, music’s first ever guitar hero
• Bob Dylan, 1960s folk music hero

Recently, Bob Dylan was recognized with a Nobel Prize in Literature for the lyrics he wrote that moved so many with their power and meaning. He was also #1 on Rolling Stone’s list.

All of these songwriters are lyrical poets, sharing their most moving and significant life moments in song.

EXERCISE:

How might you glean even greater insight and life wisdom by listens more closely to the words of masterful songwriters, regardless of your mood?